A few months ago, Coimbatore was one of the 20 cities selected by the Government of India under the smart city mission. The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) sent its proposal to the centre.

The CCMC was assisted by the IC Centre for Governance Coimbatore to prepare the proposal for the smart city mission. IC Centre for Governance Coimbatore is a body that consists of architects, city planners, builders and professionals in various areas. The main aim of the IC Centre for Governance Coimbatore is to lend a helping hand by providing expertise and knowledge to the city planning authorities in various sectors like urban planning, water supply and conservation, public health, sanitation, education among others.

“IC Centre for Governance Coimbatore is the partner organisation for project formation and implementation of the smart city mission. Under this mission, CCMC has sent the project plan to the centre and we are awaiting the approval of the centre. Once the approval is given, the projects will be rolled out one after the other,” S. Bhaskar, Founder and Trustee of IC Centre for Governance, Coimbatore, says.

Recently, a delegation of experts from Singapore was in Coimbatore on invitation from the IC Centre for Governance. John Tan, Senior Country Manager, South Asia and Middle East Desk, International Markets Department, International Development Group, Koh Lin Ji, Group Director, International Development Group and ACS Jayapaul, Head, South Asia Desk, International Markets Department, International Development Group, were in Coimbatore.

This team provided their advice on how to raise funds for the various projects of the smart city mission. These delegates who are from a building and construction firm representing the Government of Singapore felt that there was no dearth of educational facilities in Coimbatore.

They also shared the opinion that the work force in Coimbatore was talented and skilled too. However, the work culture in the bigger cities makes professionals from Coimbatore migrate in search of better work opportunities. This team also reviewed the smart city proposal that has been approved by the centre and provided its suggestions and recommendations on how to implement them.